Meal Planning

Is it just me or is trying to plan what to eat every day the worst part of being an adult?

Let me start off by saying that I despise meal planning almost as much as I despise cleaning my bathroom. I don’t have the time or the patience to sit down and go through multiple cookbooks to pull together a meal. Why are there no cookbooks containing full meal ideas? Sure, you can give me a cookbook sorted by main cookbooks, side dishes, etc. but I still have to try to pull a full meal together. It stressed me out so I ended up making the same recipes over and over or I resorted to prepackaged meals. Plus as a single woman, if I make one dish, I’m probably eating it for at least a week or throwing food out. I also worked out in the evening so I was eating dinner late in the evening and I often relied on fast food.

When I was diagnosed with iron deficiency anemia and high blood pressure in 2022, I knew that some things needed to change. I knew that my main issue was my eating and cooking habits so I talked with my doctor and discussed some options. I started looking into meal subscription services that provided full meals to cook with smaller portion sizes. I had tried HelloFresh years ago so I thought that I would give it a try again. My main struggle was dinner ideas as I keep breakfast and lunch very simple since I work from home. I liked the idea of picking meals and having the items sent to me. I’m mainly an Aldi shopper so I didn’t want to have to spend time going to another store if Aldi didn’t carry the ingredients that I needed. I also liked that there was a 2 person option so I could potentially eat more than one type of meal each week. Add in the fact that through my health insurance at work I could get 15% off for a year and it became a no brainer.

It’s been 3 months since I started back with HelloFresh and can I tell you that it was one of the best decisions I’ve made in awhile. I’m able to cook healthier meals that are quick and delicious. All of the ingredients are fresh so no processed foods and it introduced more vegetables into my diet. I can usually get 3 meals out of each recipe and I get a wide variety of meals to choose from. I also shifted to working out in the morning so I can eat dinner at a regular time. It’s been working great! If you are looking for some delicious meal options, hate meal planning like me and don’t have a large family, check out HelloFresh! I have a handful of coupons to get you a discount on your first order too.

I’ll end with one of my favorite Scriptures to repeat when I’m tempted to overeat. I just realized that sentence rhymed unintentionally but it cracked me up so much that I’m leaving it in. Hopefully it gave you a chuckle.

¹² You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything.

I Corinthians 6:12 (NLT)